Horton High School point guard Candace Smith has committed to the UPEI women's basketball team for the 2013-14 basketball season. Smith is a Nova Scotia native and one of Atlantic Canada's top guards.

UPEI Head Coach Greg Gould is looking forward to adding Smith to the Panther roster. 'I have watched Candace play basketball since she was in grade nine and I've always been impressed by her athleticism and overall skill set,' said Gould. 'She is an explosive scorer who has the offensive tools to make her an outstanding player at the CIS level.'

Gould describes Smith as a fierce competitor who 'hates to lose' which is exactly the type of player the Panthers are looking for to help move the program forward to the top of the AUS.

Smith is excited to join the Panther family and feels UPEI is a perfect fit for her to accomplish both her academic and athletic goals. 'Coach Gould is building an outstanding basketball program and I want to be a part of that process,' she said. 'Coach and the girls were amazing when I visited during the Mickey Place Tournament. They made me feel at home and that they really cared about me and my future. On the academic side, I'm looking forward to the small class sizes and personal attention offered at UPEI.'

Smith is currently a grade 12 student at Horton High and has played for the Nova Scotia under-15 and under-17 teams, including last year's under-17 provincial team who captured the national silver medal. She will pursue an arts degree at UPEI.

UPEI was recently recognized for its environmental savings for the 2011-12 fiscal year with an 'Environmental Calculator' plaque from Quebec's Cascades Fine Papers Group and Wood Wyant.

The plaque details UPEI's reduction in environmental impact based on the University's actual consumption. The University uses Cascades paper towels and bathroom tissue products throughout the campus, which are 100% recycled with varying levels of post-consumer and post-industrial products, in comparison to other industry products made of 100% virgin fiber. By using Cascades products, UPEI was able to save the following:

• 297 trees (20 tennis courts)

• 1,160,858 l of water (3,317 days of water consumption)

• 16,473 kg of waste (1 garbage truck)

• 36,639 kg CO2 (emissions of 12 cars per year)

• 471 GJ (energy consumption of 4 households per year)

• 123 kg NOx (emissions of 1 truck per year)

• 12,469 kg of CO2 avoided (3,415 trees planted)

'This plaque recognizes UPEI's commitment to the environment and in reducing our overall impact,' said David Taylor, UPEI's manager of environmental services. 'It's environmental choices like these, when coupled together with other choices, that create a significant impact on our environment.'

January Welcome Day is UPEI's orientation day for all students beginning at UPEI in the winter 2013 semester. On January 5, you are invited to UPEI campus for welcome orientation, advisement, campus tours, and a free lunch! This half-day program will introduce you to UPEI, administrators, current students, and what you need to know for your first semester at UPEI. Register today through your campus login to secure your spot!

UPEI's visiting professor to Island Studies, Scott Rice-Snow from Ball State University in Indiana, will make a public presentation on a topic that is increasingly relevant to PEI-protecting high-quality groundwater from petroleum development. Dr. Rice-Snow will discuss his research on this topic, gained from studying landscape and aquifer interactions near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

The presentation and discussion will take place on Thursday, December 13, beginning at 7:00 pm in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building. All are welcome to attend.

Dr. Rice-Snow is chair of the department of geological sciences at Ball State University, and is a research associate of the UPEI Institute of Island Studies. His specialties are in geomorphology and hydrology, with research focusing on natural landscapes sculpted by rivers, groundwater, and glaciers. In addition to Prince Edward Island, his field investigations take him to the central and western U.S. and the Caribbean.

Dr. Rice-Snow has published more than 20 research articles on landscape form and process, and has also made contributions in geoscience education, geoarchaeology, and paleoclimatology.

Scott Rice-Snow, visiting professor to Island Studies from Ball State University in Indiana, has been on PEI this fall researching the geometry of PEI drainage basins, and will summarize his results to date at a lunch-and-learn session Thursday, December 13, in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building, 12-1 pm.

Dr. Rice-Snow is chair of the Department of Geological Sciences at Ball State University, and is a research associate of the UPEI Institute of Island Studies.

His specialties are in geomorphology and hydrology, with research focusing on natural landscapes sculpted by rivers, groundwater, and glaciers. In addition to Prince Edward Island, his field investigations take him to the central and western U.S. and the Caribbean. He has published more than 20 research articles on landscape form and process, and has also made contributions in geoscience education, geoarchaeology, and paleoclimatology.

Dr. Rice-Snow will also present a public seminar at 7:00 pm in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building.

For more info, contact Island Studies at 566-0386, or inovaczek@upei.ca

Are you looking for ways to 'green' your lifestyle? UPEI environmental studies students are organizing Charlottetown's first ever Eco-Economy Expo on Saturday, January 12, 2013, at Murphy's Community Centre from 10:00 am-4:00 pm.

All are welcome to the Expo to visit with an inspiring collaboration of environmentally conscious businesses, organizations, and individuals who dedicate themselves to living sustainably. The Expo is intended to be a family-friendly event featuring live music, local food, and an exciting array of sustainably-minded exhibitors eager to share their ideas with you.

For more information on this event, please contact Jess Brown at ecoeconomyexpo@gmail.com.

Dear Members of our UPEI Community,

As the end of the calendar year quickly approaches, I would like to provide you with two documents related to UPEI's Future Directions initiative.

The first document is a Future Directions status update and a summary of what has taken place throughout 2012. The second document is forward-looking and builds upon the Future Directions update. This document outlines the next phase of Future Directions and the framework for UPEI's strategic action plan.

At my request, UPEI's Vice-Presidents are working together to further develop the UPEI Vision Document and UPEI Strategic Action Plan framework to create the detailed road map that will lead our growth and priorities over the next five years.

I would like to once again thank the members of our campus community for their valuable input and contributions. With a shared sense of purpose and direction, we will achieve UPEI's vision of fulfilling our potential and succeeding through transformation.

Yours truly,

Alaa Abd-El-Aziz
President and Vice-Chancellor

On Wednesday, December 19, at 8:00 pm, the UPEI music and theatre students will come together at The Guild to present a special holiday variety show in support of the UPEI Music Society. This concert will be a unique combination of comedy, dance, and musical performances-from jazz to folk to monologues-and will feature many holiday classics.

This show will not only present the diverse talents of the UPEI music and theatre students, but also special guests from the PEI community. Spectators are sure to enjoy the talents of the UPEI Jazz Ensemble, Theatre Society, Saxophone and Brass ensembles, Charlottetown Jazz and much more. Hosts Andrew Murray and Thayne Campbell of English Words are also sure to have the audience in stitches with their lighthearted tomfoolery.

Funds raised will go towards UPEI scholarships and annual bursaries for music students and ensembles such as the Wind Symphony and jazz band. Tickets are $10 and be purchased online or in person through The Guild Box Office.

For more information, please contact Susan Karel Stensch at (902) 566-0507.

UPEI has filed an appeal with the Judicial Committee of Atlantic University Sport on the recent suspension that the AUS handed down to UPEI men's hockey player Mason Wilgosh. The suspension was issued after Wilgosh collided with an Acadia player during a November 30th game in Wolfville, NS.

UPEI Athletics Director Ron Annear said, 'Once University officials received notification of the 12-game suspension and reviewed the situation, it was felt there was unfairness in the process, and in the severity of the suspension. Therefore, we filed an appeal today in accordance with AUS by-laws.'

Annear added that UPEI would have no further comment while the appeal is in process.

Atlantic University Sport is a sport organization responsible for governing university sport at 11 member Atlantic Canadian universities.

WAX!T, Prince Edward Island's only walk-in aesthetic service provider and waxing studio was UPEI's sponsor for Business 391: Strategic Management's annual case presentation. Each year, UPEI's School of Business recruits a sponsor who will allow students to develop a strategic plan for the future of their business.

'There's no better learning opportunity for students than to be able to work with, and analyze a real company and develop a strategic plan for that company,' said Juergen Krause, associate professor and director of UPEI's Centre for Health and Biotech Management Research. 'This is a win-win scenario as the sponsor gets various proposals and approaches on strategic issues from creative minds, and the students have the privilege of working with a local company to apply the knowledge acquired in class to a real-life setting.'

Based on scores from a previous class case, three student teams-'The Strategizers,' 'French Connection Consulting,' and 'Les Braqueuses'-were selected for this competition and to present their projects to Nicole Mead, owner and operator of WAX!T on November 28.

Mead was impressed with the teams' recommendations and hopes they feel empowered seeing their hard work and strategic advice put into action. 'Each team exceeded my expectations. They thought outside the box and recommended some very interesting strategies that I hope to implement in the future,' said Mead. 'This opportunity was truly priceless to me. I now have the options, knowledge, and tools to choose how to successfully grow my business in the most efficient way possible.'

WAX!T presented the winning prize of $1,000 to 'Les Braqueuses' for their innovative and thorough approach to the business case. The team consisting of Megan Hood, Marie Racouet, Julie Verrier, Mathilde Vivar, and Arenda Westerkamp provided an excellent analysis of the current business, as well as the future potential, including options for operations management, and a financial, human resource, and growth strategy accompanied by a respective implementation plan. The second prize of $500 was awarded to 'French Connection Consulting.'

'What we loved about working with a real company is that you can't base your recommendations on ideal situations-you have to make your strategy practical and realistic for the company based on its current position, resources, and capabilities,' said team member Megan Hood. 'It's really gratifying to create a practical strategic plan that a business can use immediately. An experience like this really bridges the gap between the textbook and real-world application.'